Passive
by SOTG
Summary: Songfic. Ryouga's pissed, but not like he normally is. Ranma's going to be on the recieving end of a beating... oneshot. note: some strong language. You have been warned.


Ranma 1/2 is Copyright Rumiko Takahashi. No offence meant to her or any other companies with that name copyrighted in their documents and stuff......  
Passive, by A Perfect Circle is Copyright aformentioned band.

* * *

Ryouga was mad.

But not mad on the outside.

Ryouga was holding it in, and was going to aim it at one person.

"Saotome." He said quietly.

_Dead as dead can be, my doctor tells me  
but I just can't believe him, ever the optimistic one_

Ryouga, for once, was not lost. He walked towards the Tendo Dojo, guided by some abnormal force he felt from within. He couldn't explain it, but it was guiding him despite his wretched sense of direction. Arriving at the gate, he calmly opened it and walked up to the house.

_I'm sure of your ability, to become my perfect enemy_

Arriving at the house, he calmly announced his presence to Kasumi, who was in the kitchen.

"Oh, Ryouga, Welcome." She said in her usual calming voice. Ryouga ignored the tone, holding in his rage.

"Yes, I was wondering if Ranma was around." Ryouga asked politely.

"Of course, if you'd stay here, I can fetch him."

"Could you tell him to meet me in the Dojo, instead?"

"Of course."

Kasumi walked upstairs and collected Ranma from his room, where he had been looking over some scrolls. Meanwhile, Ryouga headed towards the Dojo, which, mysteriously, he found without much problem again.

Ryouga sat in the middle of the Dojo, cross legged, and faced the door.

Five minutes later, Ranma walked in.

"What is it, Pig-boy?" Ranma asked with his usual arrogance. "I'm busy. You interrupted my scroll-reading."

"Ranma…" Ryouga started, and then with blinding speed that Ranma had never seen the lost boy use before, pinned the pigtailed martial artist against the wall by the throat.

"Wha...What!?" Ranma cried out, before his air supply was cut off.

Ryouga hit Ranma around the face, knocking the boy to the ground, nearly unconscious from only a couple of hits. Sure, Ryouga was strong, but Ranma could usually take a good few dozen first.

Ryouga then kicked the fallen boy in the ribs, savouring the sound of bones breaking. He then pulled a bottle of water out of his pocket and poured the contents over Ranma, changing him. Ranma screamed as his body shifted, the broken ribs threatening to puncture his lungs.

_Wake up and face me, don't play dead 'cause maybe  
Someday I will walk away and say, you disappoint me  
maybe you're better off this way_

"Perhaps now you know how I feel, huh!?" Ryouga shouted at the red-haired girl in front of him. "Perhaps now you know my pain!"

Ranma just lay on the ground, minimizing any risk to her already damaged body. Her eyes blazed with fury, fury at how a man she thought had honour, had done THIS to her!

"You are **always** stringing Akane along! You haven't even decided if you should marry her yet! Honour calls you to do it, and yet you chase skirt all day long, going after Shampoo, or Ukyou! You, who call yourself a man amongst men, you who claim to have honour!" Ryouga shouted.

_Leaning over you here, Cold and catatonic  
I catch a brief reflection, of what you could and might have been_

"And all I see here," Ryouga continued "is a **girl** who can't even pick herself up! A **girl** who won't fight back!"

"And what do you suggest I do, Ryouga?" Ranma replied at last, her voice cracked by the pain in her ribs. "Do you suggest I marry Akane, and then ruin the Kuonji family honour by not marrying Ukyou? Because that way, I'm still screwed. And I **don't** chase skirt! I'm surprised you say this yourself, when you have Akari and **still** go after Akane, you **pig**!"

"**SHUT UP!**" Ryouga shouted, kicking Ranma in the ribs again.

_It's your __**right**__ and your ability, to become my perfect enemy_

Ranma cried out in agony. She was bleeding internally; she could feel the warm blood collecting in the side of her gut. The warmth was spreading across the floor, and Ranma was starting to sense it through the floorboards. Tears sprang to her eyes.

"Get up!" Ryouga shouted. "Fight like a man, that's what you say you are! All I see is a weak girl!"

Ranma didn't move.

_Wake up_

_And face me  
don't play dead  
'Cause maybe  
someday  
I will walk away and say…_

"_You disappoint me  
Maybe you're better off this way"_ Said Ryouga, and turned away, heading towards the doorway.

_Maybe you're better off this way_

Those words raced through Ranma's mind, again and again.

_Maybe you're better off this way_

_Maybe you're better off this way_

Getting up slowly, Ranma shook her head, ignoring the angry red mark that was underneath her shirt, where her blood had collected. She winced as she stood up straight, the broken rib somehow settling into a semi-comfortable place.

_Maybe you're better off this way_

"…_You're better off this… You're better off this…"_

Ryouga turned.

"_Maybe you're better off..."_

Ranma dashed forward, her small form making her faster than Ryouga's eye could follow, even in her injured state. She delivered a stunningly fast set of punches and kicks within rapid succession. Ryouga stumbled back, caught off-guard by the surprisingly strong attack. He flew backwards, into the wall and crumpled into a heap, hearing a few of his own ribs break in the process. This was the strongest beating Ryouga had suffered in a long while.

"Yeah, who the hell do you think you are!?" shouted the small redhead at the yellow-and-black heap in front of her. The few parts of Ryouga's skin she could see were already bruising, and after kicking the lost one in the ribs as well, Ryouga rolled onto his back, looking up at her with genuine fear in his eyes. His mouth was open, fangs exposed as he tried to anticipate her next move.

"You say my honour is tainted, well take a look in the mirror!" Ranma shouted "You have taken advantage of my patience and my honour by not revealing your curse to Akane! You sleep in her bed at night, you **pervert**, and you only get away with it because of Bushido! My promise to not reveal your curse! And you sleep in my fiancées bed at night! Another man's fiancée! You are **PATHETIC!**

_Wake up and face me  
don't play dead 'Cause maybe  
someday  
I will walk away and say…_

_  
"You fucking disappoint me  
Maybe __**you're**__ better off this way!"_

Ranma spat on the boy as she left the Dojo.

Ryouga lay there for what seemed hours, wondering what to do. After he somehow nodded off and got a bit of rest, he woke to find himself still in the Dojo, a now male Ranma looking at him.

"_Go ahead and play dead"_ Ranma said. He looked at the lost boy and spoke again.  
_"I know that you can hear this_, so listen up. I want you to leave, and never come back. Otherwise, you'll find yourself in a worse situation than this. The only time I want you back here is to apologise to Akane for taking advantage of her. Do you understand?"

Ryouga did nothing.

_"Go ahead and play dead_, for all the good it'll do you. I'm going to leave now and I'm going to come back in a half-hour. If you're not gone, I'll kick you out by force, and it'll hurt. Go and get lost, Ryouga. You seem to do it anyway… Heck, you're lost in your own delusions that you're always in the right."

Ranma turned to go, spitting as he did, the saliva landing right in front of Ryouga's face.

_Why can't you turn and face me?  
Why can't you turn against me?  
Why can't you turn against me?  
Why can't you turn against me?  
You fucking disappoint me_

"_Passive aggressive bullshit."_ Ranma said to himself, and walked out the dojo.

Ryouga, still lying on the floor by the wall, pulled himself up, and left. Leaving the gates, he headed wherever he felt like. Perhaps he would find a rocky patch of mountains and destroy them.

"_Passive aggressive bullshit." _He said to himself.

* * *

C&C welcome, and please don't ask whether Ranma had pissed Ryouga off at the beginning. It's just one of Ryouga's 'moods'.


End file.
